Apparatus for thread transfer



April 12, 1955 H. L. 52.0%:

APPARATUS FOR THREAD TRANSFER Filed June 16, .1953

2 Sheets-Sheet l l 4 i l r m J4 13 "I 7 INVENTOR fiiwifkmhffllakATTORNEYS April 12,1955 H. L. BLOK 2,706,090

APPARATUS FOR THREAD TRANSFER Filed June 16, 1953 2 Sh eets-Sheet 2INYENTOR fikmflleelzderlfllak ATTORNEYS United States Patent APPARATUSFOR THREAD TRANSFER Hendrik Leendert Blok, Klazinaveen, Netherlands, as-

signor to Algemene Kunstzijde Unie, N. V., Arnhem, Netherlands, acorporation of the Netherlands Application June 16, 1953, Serial No.362,108

Claims priority, application NetherlandsJuly 17, 1952 9 Claims. (Cl.242-18) The present'invention relates to an improved method andapparatus for thread transfer, and more particularly to a method fortransferring a thread from a full bobbin to an adjacent empty bobbin inthe case of driven bobbins, and to a device for winding athread on adriven bobbin whereby adjacent to the winding bobbin a second bobbin ispresent for winding the thread when the former bobbin is full.

In winding bobbins, either surface or shaft driven, thread transfer fromthe full bobbin to an adjacent empty bobbin causes difficulties when thethread is being wound at high speed. At speeds over 100 meters perminute, and especially at speeds higher than 600 m./min. as frequentlyemployed in the melt-spinning of high molecular weight synthetic linearpolymers, the conventional methods and manipulations are no longeruseful. In a short time there occurs a disproportionately high waste andmuch loss of time.

for effecting thread transfer such as from a full bobbin Fig. 1 shows atop view of the device according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows a front view;

Fig. 3 shows a detail of the pin with rubber tube on a non-rotatingbobbin; and

Fig. 4 shows the same detail as in Fig. 3 for a rotating bobbin.

In Fig. 1, 1 indicates a surface drive roller driving a full bobbin 2,placed on a spindle 3. The spindle 3 is mounted on an arm 4, which ispivoted on a shaft 5. Next to the bobbin 2 is an empty bobbin 6 placedon a spindle 7, which is mounted on an arm 8. This arm 8 is pivoted on ashaft 9.

During normal operation the thread 10 is led via a thread guide 11through a traverse guide 12 (see Fig. 2). As soon as the bobbin 2 isfull, the thread 10 must be transferred with a minimum of interruptionand without first breaking the thread to the empty bobbin'6.

To accomplish this transfer in the most favourable manner, a pin13(Figs. 3 and 4) is mounted, according to the invention, on the spindle 7at the side towards the bobbin 2, e. g. by means of a screw thread.Several pins, e. g. three or four, may be placed near the circumferenceof the spindle.

The distance between the pin 13 and the inner side of the bobbin isabout 4 mm. Removal of a bobbin from or placing it on the spindle is nothindered by the pin 13.

The pin 13 is of such a length as to remain about 10l2 mm. from the endof the bobbin. Over the pin 13 is slipped a rubber tube 14. This rubbertube may be a piece of valve-connection such as is used for the stern ofbicycle inner tubes. The tube 14 is of such a length as toextend about10 mm. beyond the end of the bobbin.

to an adjacent empty bobbin under conditions. where The device accordingto the invention is characterized in that either the bobbin spindles ofboth bobbins or I both bobbins themselves are provided at their infacingabove' the empty bobbin 6.

When driven by the roller 1 at high thread take-up speeds, the flexiblerubber tube 14 is bent outwardly (Fig. 4) so that itsend remains about1-2 mm. inside of the outer diameter of thebobbin.

Thread transfer now is effected as follows: The thread 10 is-taken awayfrom behind the thread guide 11 and is laid behind the thread guide 15located in the centre Next the thread is removed from the traverse guide12 and is passed in a quick lateral movement into the traverse guide 16over the bobbin 6. For this purpose, the traverse guide 16 sides withone or more members placed near the edge of the bobbins, these membershaving such a length that their ends are at a distance of about 1-2 mm.inside of the outer diameter of the empty bobbin. The bobbins themselvesare fiangeless.

(and also the traverse guide 12) is provided with bevelled edges so thatthe thread readily slips into it of itself. Thus the' traverse guide 16is made, as it were, selfcatching. Now the thread passes the open spacebetween the bobbins and meets one of the rubber tubes 14 beiongingto thebobbin 6, and is caught by it. The full bobbin 2 is now turned forwardabout the shaft 5 out of contact with the surface drive roller 1 and indoing so,

, is immediately braked. The connecting thread 10a bethe deviceaccording to the invention, the aforesaid members consist of flexiblebodies or elements that assume the desired position as aresult of thecentrifugal forces produced during rotation of the bobbins.

Preferably, the members consist of rubber tubes slipped on pins whichare placed on the infacing sides of the spindles, or alternatively ofrubber rods fixed on the spindles.

A still further improvement consists in that the pins are made of suchlengths that their ends remain about 1012 mm. from the end of thebobbin, and that the rubber tubes that are slipped on or over the pinsextend about 10 mm. beyond the end of the bobbin.

Instead of rubber tubes on pins or rubber rods fixed on the spindles,iron wire, fixed either on the spindle or on the bobbin, may be used aswell for realizing the principle of the invention. In such case,however, there is the attendant risk of injuries to the operators hands.Though such an embodiment is technically useful, it therefore cannotordinarily be recommended for safety reasons. v

By way of further illustration of the present invention, it is describedbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings which are to beregarded as illustrative rather than by way of limitation. In thedrawings:

tween the now-non-driven bobbin 2 and the still-driven bobbin 6 nowbreaks.

The described transfer is so quick as to produce hardly any wasteHitherto often up to 4% of waste was formed, because in windingpolyamide threads at a speed of e. g. about 1000 m./min., the threadbrought into the machine had to be broken and again laid on the newbobbin according to a definite system. In the method and apparatusaccording to the present invention the amount of waste is reduced toalmost zero. Moreover, according to the present invention the ordinarilytroublesome air currents that are necessarily created around the bobbinswhen rotating at the very high speeds described above do not interferewith the thread transfer procedure involved herein.

On the spindle 3, pins 13 with rubber tubes 14 are mounted in the sameway as on the spindle 7, so that,

when the bobbin 6 is full and the bobbin 2 has been screwed into holesprovided with a screw thread. The

rubber rods have a length corresponding to the combined length of thepin 13 with the rubber tube 14 slipped over it.

It is obvious that the members for taking up the threads may be embodiedin several different ways with out departing from the spirit and scopeof this invention. For example, spiral springs of appropriate length maybe mounted in the spindles. It is then desirable to provide the freeends of the springs with a protective ball.

While specific details of preferred embodiments have been set forthabove, it will be apparent that many changes and modifications may bemade therelnwithout departing from the spirit of the invention. It willtherefore be understood that what has been described herein is intendedto be illustrative only, and is not intended to limit the scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is: v

1. Apparatus for winding a thread on a revolving bobbin and then on asecond revolving empty bobbin adjacent thereto when the first bobbin isfull without interrupting the overall thread-winding operation,comprising flexible thread takeup members extending a short distancefrom the inside of at least the empty bobbin 1n the direction toward theother bobbin, said flexible thread takeup members assuming the desiredposition under the influence of centrifugal forces to which the bobbinsare subjected during rotation.

2. Apparatus as. defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible thread takeupmembers consist of rubber tubes slipped over pins which are mounted onthe facing sides of the spindles which carry said revolving bobbins.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible thread takeupmembers consist of rubber rods fixed on facing sides of the spindleswhich carry said revolving bobbins.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 including pins attached to theinfacing sides of the spindles which carry said revolving bobbins, saidpins having such a length as to terminate about l-l2 mm. from the endsof the bobbins, and rubber tubes slipped over said pins and of such alength that the free ends thereof extend about 10 mm. beyond the end ofthe bobbins.

5. Apparatus for winding threads on revolving bobbins withoutinterrupting the thread takeup operation while changing from a fullbobbin to an empty bobbin comprising a pair of pivoted bobbin supportsincluding spindles for supporting a pair of bobbins in substantiallycoaxial position with ends spaced slightly from each other, a surfacedrive roller adapted to contact the cylindrical surfaces of both of saidbobbins for driving same, means for rotating said'surface drive rollerto cause a predetermined high thread takeup speed, a thread traverseguide associated with each of said bobbins, and flexible thread takeupmembers at the infa'cing sides of at least one of said bobbins, saidflexible thread takeup members assuming the desired position under theinfluence of centrifugal forces to which the bobbins are subjectedduring rotation, so that upon transferring the thread from the fullbobbin to the empty bobbin it is taken up by said members, whereby whenthe full bobbin 1s thereafter decelerated the connecting-thread betweenthe two bobbins is readily broken without interrupting the overallthread-winding operation.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which the bobbills on which thethread is being wound are flangeless bobbins.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the flexible thread takeupmembers consist of rubber tubes slipped over pins which are mounted onthe facing sides of the spindles which carry said revolving bobbins.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the flexible thread takeupmembers consist of rubber rods fixed on facing sides of v the spindleswhich carry said-revolving bobbins.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 including pins attached to theinfacing sides of the spindles which carry said revolving bobbins, saidpins having such a length as to terminate about 10-12 mm. from the endsof the bobbins, and rubber tubes slipped over said pins and ofsuch alength that the free ends thereof extend about 10 mm. beyond the end ofthe bobbins.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS StreamDec. 23, 1952

